1. decimate -- (kill one in every ten, as of mutineers in Roman armies)
2. eliminate, annihilate, extinguish, eradicate, wipe out, decimate, carry off -- (kill in large numbers; "the plague wiped out an entire population")

1.

Mabeuf opened his bookcase, took a long look at all his books, one after another, as a father obliged to decimate his children would gaze upon them before making a choice, then seized one hastily, put it in under his arm and went out. - from Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

2.

They did not notice the cholera which decimated Paris precisely during that very month. - from Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

3.

Apollo sent a pestilence which decimated the people, and Poseidon a flood, which bore with it a marine monster, who swallowed in his huge jaws all that came within his reach. - from Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome by E.M. Berens

4.

On the th of June, , a company of the National Guards from the suburbs, commanded by the Captain Fannicot, above mentioned, had itself decimated in the Rue de la Chanvrerie out of caprice and its own good pleasure. - from Les Miserables by Victor Hugo